The recent development of electronic technology has spurred the development of computers and peripheral devices having greater performance, particularly image forming apparatuses.
Image forming apparatuses refer to apparatuses capable of forming textual or graphical images on sheets of paper or on other recording media. Non-limiting examples of an image forming apparatus may include, for example, printers, scanners, facsimile machines, copiers or multifunctional peripherals (MFP) capable of functioning as two or more of the above-described devices.
Image forming apparatuses are typically able to perform printing employing one of several types of printing method, such as a dot matrix type, an inkjet type or an electrophotographic type. Recently, electrophotographic image forming apparatuses have become widespread.
Electrophotographic image forming apparatuses use a developer such as a toner for forming images. The developer is a consumable product, so if an image forming apparatus is used for a predetermined period of time, the developer may become exhausted. When the developer is exhausted, a user may replace the spent developer supplier (or cartridge) with a new one. Until the developer is exhausted, the developer supplier originally provided with the image forming apparatus by the manufacture may be used. The initial developer supplier however may not include a customer replaceable unit monitor (CRUM), but a subsequent user replaced developer supplier may include a CRUM.
A developing device used for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus may include a developing unit and a developer supplier, e.g., a bottle or other types of container, for supplying a developer to the developing unit. The developing unit and the developer supplier may be separable from each other. In this situation, so long as a quantity of developer remains inside the developing unit even when the bottle is removed from the developing unit, image forming operations may continue to be performed for a predetermined number of printing media. Accordingly, it is impossible for a user to know whether the developer supplier is mounted or whether it is properly mounted until the developer remaining in the developing unit is exhausted.
Additionally, if the initial or the original developer supplier is subsequently replaced with a non-genuine replacement developer supplier, the image forming apparatus may malfunction. Accordingly, efficient checking of the status of developer supplier(s) of an image forming apparatus is desirable.